How To Implement Financial Changes With Your Spouse

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This post is part three of a three-part series focused on helping you get on the same financial page with your spouse. I have used these three steps to work through substantial financial challenges and achieve some of my biggest plans, hopes, and dreams. I’m confident they can help you move forward to living a fully funded life!

Depending on the level of stress felt during the conversation, it might be appropriate to back off for a little while to let your spouse process everything you have shared. Once the appropriate follow-up conversations have taken place, it is time to move forward.

Here are some ways to implement those financial changes in a way that honors your spouse and your dreams:

1. Establish clear ownership (share the next steps) Decide who will take responsibility for each step. Who will actually take the step to establish the 529 college savings plan with the investment company? Who will notify the cable company to cancel service? Who will have the conversation with your teenager about earning their money instead of receiving an allowance?

2. Celebrate progress Life is too short not to have celebrations! When you complete one of the agreed-upon steps, celebrate! Did you establish an automatic investment for your children’s 529 college savings plan? Celebrate because you’ve just taken a major step toward helping them graduate college debt-free! Did you actually stay within the budget at the grocery store? Celebrate because that is something most people cannot do—and the savings on food items is positioning you to fund your trip to Hawaii!

3. Open the door for future financial conversations Since your finances are so intimately tied to the accomplishment of your plans, hopes, and dreams, be sure to use the positive outcomes to establish a clear and open line of discussion for future financial opportunities and challenges.

Apply these steps, and you will soon find that you are a power couple: a partnership that nothing could ever separate.

Joseph Sangl is a leading teacher of personal finances and the founder of I Was Broke. Now I’m Not., an organization committed to helping people live fully funded lives. He’s also the author of several books including his latest release, “I Was Broke. Now I’m Not.” Joe resides in Anderson, South Carolina with his wife, Jenn, and their three children. You can connect with Joseph on Twitter.